Be Safe Online

If, at any time, you feel you need to leave this website quickly, click the "escape site" button. You'll be immediately sent to an urelated website (Yahoo.com).

Your Internet, online, and email activities can be easily traced. If you are in danger or feel that reading this website might be dangerous for you, click here to learn how to protect yourself while online.

As we continue our recognition of Youth Violence Prevention Week, today we focus on managing anger and finding a “way to prevent anger from leading to violence.”

Anger is a natural emotion that we all have. Some manage their anger much better than others, but for those who lose control of their emotions the consequences can become devastating to themselves, their work, their relationships and possibly their life. Anger is powerful. Violence should not be unpredictable. You need to learn to control anger before it controls you.

Everyone deals with anger in their own way. Some people throw or hit things, some use humor to get through their anger, some keep their anger bottled up. Whichever way you control your anger, keeping violence out of the picture is the best way. Violence does not solve anything, and perhaps, only escalates your anger.

Walk Away. It may seem hard at the time, but it really deescalates the anger from causing a larger problem. “Then take a 5 minute walk to get some fresh air, or do something else that provides calm and relief. If your anger stems from the traffic jam you’re stuck in, for example, turn up the radio and sing at the top of your voice. The idea is to create a mental and/or physical escape from the situation.”

Anger doesn’t solve problems. If you lose it, you lose. “Losing your temper makes you look like the bad guy to everyone else, no matter who is really at fault. To get better at controlling your anger, visualize a scene in which you got angry and replay the tape several times, each time imagining yourself responding in a different way. You’re actually rehearsing different reactions and giving yourself new options.